5 Genetic Regions Tied to Childhood IBD

A new study shows at least one of the five new gene regions associated withchildhood IBD is directly involved in the biological process that causes thepainful inflammation of the digestive tract associated with the disease.

"This is an evolving story of discovering what genes tell us about thedisease," says researcher Robert N. Baldassano, MD, director of the Center forPediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Children's Hospital, in a news release."Pinpointing how specific genes act on biological pathways provides a basis forultimately personalizing medicine to an individual's genetic profile."

Inflammatory bowel disease affects about 2 million children and adults inthe U.S. It is characterized by inflammation of the gastrointestinal lining,which causes damage and ulcerations. IBD includes Crohn's disease, which affects any part of thegastrointestinal (GI) tract, and ulcerative colitis , which is limited to the largeintestine.

Researchers say childhood IBD tends to be more severe than the adult form ofthe disease, but until now most studies have only looked at the genes behindadult IBD.

The study, published in Nature Genetics, is the largest geneticanalysis of childhood-onset inflammatory bowel disease. Researchers looked atDNA from more than 3,400 children and adolescents with IBD and compared theirgenetic structure to that of nearly 12,000 healthy children.

Researchers say the most significant finding was in regard to the geneticregion on chromosome 16, which is near the gene (IL27) that carries the codefor a signaling protein involved in intestinal inflammation.

If further studies confirm this genetic link to childhood inflammatory boweldisease, drugs may be developed to target the gene's action andblock its disease-causing actions.